The traditional entry-level hiring process inhibits graduates of all ages from breaking into new industries and starting their careers, contributing to the twin problems of unemployment and underemployment of postsecondary graduates. This, in turn, has led to a public perception shift related to the value of higher education for graduates. In this climate, significant steps are needed to transform and improve the pathway between the academy and the labor market. In this interview, Samuel Boyer discusses a few of the core issues with the traditional hiring process and shares his thoughts on how the resume could be reinvented to overcome these issues.
The EvoLLLution (Evo): What are the most significant problems with the traditional hiring process for employers?
Samuel Boyer (SB): One of the most significant and biggest problems with the traditional hiring process is the amount of time it takes. The process of sorting through hundreds of potential employee resumes to find the perfect candidate takes a huge chunk of time away from employers. Even after going through piles and piles of resumes, there is no surefire way to judge a candidate’s personality or to get a sense of whether they would be a good fit for your company when reading a stagnant resume.
The second problem with the traditional hiring process arises in the interviewing stage itself. There have been countless studies conducted by professional researchers and hiring professionals that prove time and time again that first impression is the leading factor in the final hiring decision. That being said, if a company is looking to keep their reputation intact, they can’t simply cut an interview short based on first impression alone, meaning that hiring teams are wasting time sitting through interviews for candidates that they have already made an opinion about within the first 3 to 5 minutes.
Evo: How does the traditional hiring process negatively impact students?
SB: The problems with the hiring process become even more challenging for students who are applying to entry-level positions. Across the United States, more and more students are seeking out internships and recognizing the importance of building a professional portfolio throughout their studies.
The problem is that now, everyone is coming out of college with the same type of degree, the same internship experiences, the same leadership roles and so on. With so much uniformity in the resumes of recent college graduates, the challenge that is presented to graduates looking to enter the workforce is how they can stand out and avoid letting their resume slip into the deep, dark hole of a hiring manager’s desk without ever getting a chance to let their personality shine through.
Evo: How are you overcoming these obstacles?
SB: Visibl is a powerful tool that students can use to get an edge with employers by showing them why they’re different from the pack—what sets them apart, and what brought them to the place they are now. With each video created, a student increases their opportunities of landing a job by revealing their true personality and telling their story, something they would’ve previously only been able to do once called for an interview.
Employers today don’t just want to hire a person; they want to hire the right personality for a position, which is difficult to extrapolate from a piece of paper. Visibl overcomes the obstacle of the one-dimensional paper resume by bringing the entire process to a more human level, one that is less transactional and aims to get at what a candidate is actually looking for in a job. For employers, using Visibl will increase the speed and effectiveness of their existing recruiting strategy, ultimately saving them time and money in the long run.
Evo: What are the next steps Visibl needs to take in order to transform hiring for entry-level positions?
SB: I am focusing the launch of Visibl on the West Coast, primarily in California. One reason for this is to try to grab the attention and early-adoption habits of the students out there. I feel strongly that the youth culture on the West Coast, one of openness to new technology and a free-spirited approach in general, will mean that Visibl hits the ground running once launched. Visibl needs to get as many student users on board as soon as possible, which will in turn attract more employers to sign up.
Although we have numerous companies signed up to use Visibl already, the student adoption rate is really the key to transforming everything. Fortunately, we’ve seen an excellent response to Visibl by the students in California, and those that we’ve hired as interns or campus ambassadors are helping us get everything jumpstarted. My hope is that Visibl will help usher in a new era of technology designed specifically with the student job-seeker in mind.
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